New anxiety benefit claims signed off every seven minutes as ADHD handouts hit record high

A NEW anxiety benefits claim has been signed off every seven minutes and three seconds so far this year – after a record number of people got handouts for ADHD. Some 43,308 people, enough to fill Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium, have been awarded PIP by the Department for Work and Pensions because they are anxious or have an ADHD diagnosis. It includes 12,415 new awards where a claimant’s main disability was ADHD, a record for the first seven months of any year and up 16 per cent on the same period last year. The huge boom is estimated to have added at least £286million a year to Britain’s already bursting welfare state bill, Sun research shows. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! It is the equivalent of £5.5million-a-week from taxpayer funds. Critics have warned PM Andy Burnham was unable to get a handle on the ballooning welfare state after he admitted social security was more important than national security. The 10,657 claimants handed the top rate of both the daily living and mobility elements will pocket £194.60 a week, or more than £10,000 a year each. More than half of those signed off (22,840) were given the enhanced daily living rate of £114.60 a week. There were 6,359 claims approved for anxiety disorders and 24,534 for mixed anxiety and depression conditions. March was the busiest month, with 7,073 claims signed off – 230 a day. Most read in Money Senior Tory MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke said: “This is a totally unsustainable situation. “Some people will have these conditions so bad it is a necessity, but there’s no way it’s that bad that hundreds of thousands of people have to claim for it. “The vast majority of people are using it as an excuse and cases like this will collapse the system. “Labour have lost control of the system, and they don’t want to do anything to get it under control. “We’re using more and more money on giving people handouts for anxiety, but when Russia attacks us, then that will give people real anxiety.” A DWP spokeswoman said: “PIP is awarded based on how a condition impacts a person’s day-to-day needs, as opposed to the condition itself. “The increase in the PIP caseload has slowed under this government, falling from 400,000 in the 12 months to July 2024, to 260,000 in the 12 months to July 2026. “But as the Timms Review report made clear, PIP is no longer fit for purpose and the recommendations from its final report, due in Autumn, will lay the foundation for sustainable reform.” Comment now